The HRC’s conference was characterised by much soul-searching about the definitions of racism Sechaba ka’Nkosi South Africa’s whites went on trial this week on charges of racism when black leaders attending the Human Rights Commission (HRC) conference on racism questioned their attitude towards black citizens and their willingness to reach out and reconcile. Unease and discomfort mainly from white participants characterised the opening of the conference as stark realities about the extent of the polarisation of South African races came to the fore. Speakers at the conference, Combating Racism: A Nation in Dialogue, described a country in which citizens harbour deep-rooted mistrust of each other.
The conference, which started off with a sizeable degree of disorganisation, was characterised by much soul-searching about definitions of racism. Ironically, some of the South Africa’s worst-affected victims of racism – notably farm and domestic workers – were nowhere to be seen. Instead, a group of 47 members of the right-wing Mynwerkers Unie interrupted the gathering of intelligentsia and academia to launch a half-hour placard demonstration in protest against affirmative action in the workplace. It was rather a dull affair until President Thabo Mbeki took to the podium and, with no trace of repentance, reiterated his notion of a country with two nations – black and poor against white and prosperous. Mbeki argued that white South Africa had left the responsibility to end racism with its victims in the black community. “This actual situation is that racism organised our society in such a manner that the black oppressed could not possibly have a way of distinguishing between those who elected to enforce a racist system and those who were the involuntary beneficiaries of racism,” charged Mbeki. “In this situation, it becomes very easy to argue that – you may not have been against us, which we only know from what you say, but you were not with us, which we know because you were not with us in the struggle.” Mbeki’s speech set the tone for the conference and dispelled the myth of a rainbow nation that has been heralded in the world as united. His argument drew the battle lines between black and white, victims and perpetrators.
Conspicuously absent was Democratic Party leader Tony Leon, who has squared up with Mbeki in a public spat over racism in the recent past. Also absent from most of the discussions were representatives of the media, who were blocked from covering all but the plenary debate. HRC chair Barney Pityana expressed concern that delegates would be intimidated from expressing themselves before journalists. Azanian People’s Organisation president Mosibudi Mangena approved of Mbeki’s analysis of the current situation in the country. Mangena likened Mbeki to slain black consciousness Steve Biko talking out of his grave. Except for Mangena and his Inkatha Freedom Party counterpart Mangosuthu Buthelezi, other opposition leaders only started trickling in on Thursday. Those present included New National Party justice representative Sheila Camerer, United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa and the DP’s Dene Smuts.
But Leon’s absence did not deter Mbeki from launching yet another scathing attack on his critics. “It has been agued that those who point to the persistence of racism in our country are themselves racist,” charged Mbeki. “Those who propagate affirmative action are accused of seeking to introduce reverse racism, or, more directly, of resort to anti-white racism. “Necessarily, this adds to the acrimony, the unpleasantness and therefore the difficulty of conducting a rational and even-tempered discussion on the question of racism.”
With the battle lines drawn, the message became clearer that while the legal framework in South Africa was there to protect victims it was not enough. The other participants in the opening plenary became bogged down in academic discussions on the meaning of racism, and did little to advance practical solutions to the problem. The dozens of Cabinet ministers, premiers, diplomats and NGO activists and business people sat attentively as some of South Africa’s hidden secrets were being laid bare at the conference. The most serious problems stem from hardened racial attitudes, particularly in rural South Africa. For example, an HRC national tour on racism attended by more than 1000 complainants received more than 300 written and oral submissions relaying experiences of abuse at the hands of white farmers and accusing the police and the judiciary as accomplices to their nightmare. As in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) the tone from mainly rural people came with anger, bitterness and despair at the extent of racism they deal with on a daily basis. In some of the worst-case scenarios in the Free State a farmer allegedly asked a victim if Mbeki owned the farm after throwing him into a dam for walking on his land. In another, when a black employer challenged his boss for calling him a kaffir, the farmer is alleged to have retorted: “Even Mandela is a kaffir.” But the most touching was the case of Jan Seepa, a farmworker who was killed mysteriously in the Northern Province. According to the report Seepa failed to return home and five days later the farmer told his mother that he had been beaten up and they did not know where he was. When his headless body was eventually found in a river, the death certificate identified a crocodile as a cause of death. And when his head was found without any signs of a crocodile bite, a new death certificate was drawn up with the cause of death identified as unknown. His family alleges there was no investigation and the murder docket was closed for lack of evidence. The Association for Rural Advancement argued that reports from people on farms suggest a number of serious human rights violations taking place. It contends that the criminal justice system has either been unable or in some cases unwilling to take action against those responsible. “The complexities that bestow privilege as by divine right on some and which infuse inferiority upon others must be put under the spotlight,” said Pityana.
“It is hard to be the new South African. This new humanity we are talking about has a price too.” On Thursday, African National Congress MP Pallo Jordan challenged the business community to speed up its affirmative action programme. Jordan said 70% of businesses were still dominated by the white community despite the fact that they only made up 11% of the population. “We cannot pretend that racism does not exist but we have to work together for a peaceful miracle,” he said. United States academic Patricia Williams said economic success was still largely biased against black communities throughout the world. Williams said while racism would be difficult to difficult to tackle, uprooting racism required an ongoing formation of imaginative coalitions. Said Williams: “What we value most, human life, should be deemed priceless.”
The conference had not ended at the time of going to press
ENDS